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This Winterreise is the final instalment of Matthias Goerne’s series of Schubert lieder for Harmonia Mundi and it brings the Matthias Goerne Schubert Edition, begun in 2008, to a dark, harrowing close.

We see the characters first in two boxes at an opera house. The five singers share a box and stare at the stage. But Konstanze’s eye is caught by a man in a box opposite: Bassa Selim (actor Tobias Moretti), who stares steadily at her and broods in voiceover at having lost her, his inspiration.

Richard Strauss may be most closely associated with the soprano voice but
this recording of a selection of the composer’s lieder by baritone Thomas
Hampson is a welcome reminder that the rapt lyricism of Strauss’s settings
can be rendered with equal beauty and character by the low male voice.

Bernarda Fink’s recording of Gustav Mahler’s Lieder is an important new release that includes outstanding performances of the composer’s well-known songs, along with compelling readings of some less-familiar ones.

This live performance of Laurent Pelly’s Glyndebourne staging of
Humperdinck’s affectionately regarded fairy tale opera, was recorded at
Glyndebourne Opera House in July and August 2010, and the handsomely produced
disc set — the discs are presented in a hard-backed, glossy-leaved book and
supplemented by numerous production photographs and an informative article by
Julian Johnson — is certainly stylish and unquestionably recommendable.

Recorded at a live performance in 2012, this CD brings together an eclectic
selection of turn-of-the-century orchestral songs and affirms the extraordinary
versatility, musicianship and technical accomplishment of mezzo-soprano
Magdalena Kožená.

Once I was: Songs by Ricky Ian Gordon features an assortment of
songs by Ricky Ian Gordon interpreted by soprano Stacey Tappan, a longtime
friend of the composer since their work on his opera Morning Star at
the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Alfredo Kraus, one of the most astute artists in operatic history in terms of careful management of technique and vocal resources, once said in an interview that ‘you have to make a choice when you start to sing and decide whether you want to service the music, and be at the top of your art, or if you want to be a very popular tenor.’

In the thirty-five years immediately following its American première at the Metropolitan Opera in 1914, Italo Montemezzi’s ‘Tragic Poem in Three Acts’ L’amore dei tre re was performed in New York on sixty-six occasions.

Known principally for its two concert show-pieces for the leading lady, the success of Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur relies upon finding a soprano willing to take on, and able to pull off, the eponymous role.

It would be condescending and perhaps even offensive to suggest that singing
traditional Spirituals is a rite a passage for artists of color, but the musical heritage of the United States has been greatly enriched by the performances and recordings of Spirituals by important artists such as Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett, Grace Bumbry, Jessye Norman, Barbara Hendricks, Florence Quivar, Kathleen Battle, Harolyn Blackwell, and Denyce Graves.

As a companion to their excellent Great Wagner Singers boxed set
compiled and released in celebration of the Wagner Bicentennial, Deutsche
Grammophon have also released Great Wagner Conductors, a selection of
orchestral music conducted by five of the most iconic Wagnerian conductors of
the Twentieth Century, extracted from Deutsche Grammophon’s extensive
archives.

What better way for Masonic brothers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emmanuel Shikaneder to disseminate Masonic virtues, than through the most popular musical entertainment of their age, a happy ending folktale that features a dragon, enchanting flutes and bells, mixed-up parentage, and a beautiful young princess in distress?

Recordings

31 Mar 2005

BRAHMS: Lieder, Complete Edition, Vol. 8

This latest release in the collaborative project to record the complete songs of Johannes Brahms focuses on four opus numbers, among the last groups of Lieder to be so designated by Brahms. The present recording represents typical songs from the so-called mature composer, most of these having been written between 1883-88. Each of the opus numbers includes a mix of texts drawn from the works of contemporary, well known poets and from the milieu of popular folk-songs. As an example of this mix, the songs from op. 97 comprise settings of poems by Reinhold, Alexis, and Groth, as well as two songs for which the source is simply given as Volkslied. As in most of the previous releases of this project, the singers Juliane Banse and Andreas Schmidt divide the repertoire and are accompanied by the pianist Helmut Deutsch.

This latest release in the collaborative project to record the complete songs of Johannes Brahms focuses on four opus numbers, among the last groups of Lieder to be so designated by Brahms. The present recording represents typical songs from the so-called mature composer, most of these having been written between 1883-88. Each of the opus numbers includes a mix of texts drawn from the works of contemporary, well known poets and from the milieu of popular folk-songs. As an example of this mix, the songs from op. 97 comprise settings of poems by Reinhold, Alexis, and Groth, as well as two songs for which the source is simply given as Volkslied. As in most of the previous releases of this project, the singers Juliane Banse and Andreas Schmidt divide the repertoire and are accompanied by the pianist Helmut Deutsch.

The first group of songs from op. 95 focuses on popular songs adapted from Serbian and on texts by the poet Friedrich Halm. Common to both groups as set by Brahms are modulations or changes in tempo in the final part of individual songs. The two vocalists in this recording show an especially sensitive awareness at communicating such shifts in mood. In the first song of op. 95, "Das Mädchen" ("The Maiden") — designated as "Serbian song" — a young woman reflects on the possibilities of being kissed by an older or younger man. In the last section of the piece the tempo increases as she vows to cover her face with rose-water in anticipation of a younger suitor. Banse conveys the excitement of the young woman through a brighter tone toward the close as well as a subtle yet increasing aspiration, both matched by the accompanist in attentive support of the singer. In the third song from this same group, "Beim Abschied" ("At Parting") based on a text by Halm, Andreas Schmidt achieves a similar effect by following an opposite interpretive move. The lyrical voice in this song had endured many tedious individuals among his acquaintance if only for the chance of a fleeting moment with the beloved. As his thoughts dwell on her in the final two verses, the tempo slows noticeably starting at the words "nur die Eine" ("just that one"); Schmidt and the accompanist Deutsch imitate the lingering sentiments of the man and underscore the commitment to "that one" as opposed to indifference for the others. Through his use of distended vowels in these verses Schmidt emphasizes the mood of expectancy, resulting in a feigned patience for the "die anderen" ("the others").

Three of the four songs from op. 96 derive from poems by Heinrich Heine, all of which are here sung by the baritone. Schmidt brings to these songs a sense of the dichotomy present in Brahms's own musical interpretations of Heine's poems. In "Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht" ("Death, it is the cool night"), op. 96, no.1, an opposition is set up from the initial verses between death/night and life/day. The lyrical voice is first identified in the transition between day and night, as twilight takes over and the voice begins to fall into a dreamy sleep. From these elements Schmidt uses his voice to render an interpretive version of the song which suits the ambivalence of Brahms's setting. His voice rises upward on "Nacht" ("night"), yet "Tag" ("day") takes on the tone established for death at the start of the song. Once the voice moves in transition toward the dream, Schmidt invokes the word "Tag" differently, and his farewell to the mundane allows for the vision of love in the second strophe. Here love is indeed celebrated — and proclaimed with varying, joyful intonations as Schmidt recalls the nightingale — until the realization, in closing with a decreasing tempo, that his vision occurs only in a dream. These same oppositions predominate in "Es schauen die Blumen" ("All the flowers gaze") op.96, no.3, also based on a text by Heine. The generalizing word "alle" is used twice in rhyme during the first strophe to indicate the natural habits of flowers and streams. Yet the third instance of "alle," proclaimed in resounding elation by Schmidt at the second strophe, refers to love-songs and human emotions, which filter back to the beloved. This hopefulness causes the final word "trüb" ("gloomy") to be sung on a higher, softer note, as though the voice wishes to communicate sadness yet determination in the expectation of love.

The late songs of Brahms have often been typified as overly sentimental: such judgement being indeed an oversimplification, as this collection clearly shows. In addition to the examples discussed above, the last two opus numbers included in this recording — opp. 97 and 105 — show the mature composer continuing to treat sentiment in a sophisticated, independent style. From op. 105 the song "Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer" ("Ever fainter grows my slumber"), based on a poem by Hermann von Lingg, depicts a woman aware of her impending death yet preoccupied with thoughts of a beloved. During the initial description of sorrow and care the accompanist supports the soprano Banse in her reflective state. Once the thought of dreams begins in this strophe, the woman slips into a reverie of hearing her lover call outside the door. As the text indicates that no one is able to open her door for the man, the accompaniment changes to a separate voice of impending frustration for the woman; together with this instrumental contrast, Banse uses her own voice to indicate varying shifts in mood ranging from expectancy to disappointment. Although the dream ends at this point, the second strophe elucidates a continuing spectrum of emotions. A final cry, "o komme bald!" ("O come soon") is expressed in both rising tones of hope and the quiet mood of resignation.

The song repertoire of Brahms is both rich and varied, as evident from the four groups of Lieder in this recording. Because of the degree of character and mood portrayal, the decision to use several singers is well taken. Such thoughtful and dramatic performances by Banse, Schmidt, and Deutsch will surely encourage further listening of the larger corpus of songs composed by Brahms.